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Date:      Tue, 25 Apr 2006 14:21:50 +0100
From:      Miguel Ramos <freebsd@anjos.strangled.net>
To:        martin@orbweavers.co.uk
Cc:        freebsd-questions@freebsd.org
Subject:   Re: OT: Domain Registration
Message-ID:  <1145971310.15630.26.camel@compaq.anjos.strangled.net>
In-Reply-To: <1950.217.37.3.201.1145965462.squirrel@www.orbweavers.co.uk>
References:  <1950.217.37.3.201.1145965462.squirrel@www.orbweavers.co.uk>

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Ter, 2006-04-25 =E0s 11:44 +0000, martin@orbweavers.co.uk escreveu:
[...]
>   I assume what should happen is
>=20
>       - I buy a domain from registrar X
>       - X sets that domain to point to my dns server as the master server
>       - X hosts a secondary dns server

*Some* registrars offer free secondary dns hosting, yes, mine does,
gandi.net.

>       - I can then add subdomains to my domain which will directly
> propagate on the internet, set the various MX and ilk to whatever I
> want etc. without having to contact a 3rd party
>=20
>   My further assumptions are
>       - The secondary server will either update from my server directly O=
R
> I will need to contact X to add anything new for me.

Secondaries update from your server, initiating a zone transfer when
they feel like it. Sending them a notify may also trigger the transfer,
but not immediatly.
I have a free secondary dns for anjos.strangled.net on rollernet.us, and
it only updates from my server at most once a day (just about what I
need, but comes close to being useless).

>=20
>   My questions are -
>      a) Are my assumptions correct?
>      b) What would be the best way to explain this to a phone drone?

Impossible. If the services you need (secondary dns) are not listed on
their website then they won't offer the service either because they
don't understand its usefulness or because it's against their interest.

>      c) Can anyone recommend a good registrar that will be able to set
> this up with minimum fuss (and cost)?

Check mine, http://www.gandi.net. Not cheap on .com, .net, .org domains,
cheap on .info and .name. Anyway, they offer secondary dns and custom
dns (if you come to the conclusion that it's best to leave the zone
files outside your computer).

I'm not entirely satisfied, mainly because they offer email redirection,
secondary dns and custom dns, but each of these mutually excludes the
other ones.

There's also freedns.afraid.org, if you want to put your domain on a
good, redundant server, and perhaps only host third level domains on
your computer (they allow you to define NS records, and they also offer
dynamic dns services).

Rollernet.us offers besides secondary dns, backup mx for free.

>      d) Are there any good reasons not to do it this way (remember, this
> is not a mission critical setup, and its main purpose is to tinker)

Well,
- if you plan to have your main server down for more than a week
(default value in SOA record), then your zone will expire, even on
secondaries.
- if you're on a dynamic IP, then you'll have trouble with most
registrars.

Perhaps a more flexible option may be having a second level domain on a
freedns service (like freedns.afraid.org) and one or more third level
domains hosted at your server.

But buy a domain, try it, and see what suits you.

Miguel Ramos




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